Mountain-Climbing Exerciser

ABSTRACT

An exerciser has a frame, a top cap, two handle units, two stepping boards, a wheel transmission mechanism, and a damping assembly. The wheel transmission mechanism is mounted on the frame and has a transmission wheel. The damping assembly is mounted on the frame and has a disk axle, a disk mount, a transmission belt, a magnetic disk, and a magnetic base. The disk axle is mounted rotatably on the frame at a position below the transmission wheel. The disk mount is co-axially mounted around the disk axle. The transmission belt is mounted around the transmission wheel and the disk mount. The magnetic disk is mounted co-axially around the sick mount and has a periphery extending into a recess defined in the magnetic base in a non-contact manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an exerciser, and more particularly to a mountain-climbing exerciser to train muscles of hands and legs of a user for simulating mountain-climbing.

2. Description of Related Art

Indoor exercisers can solve weather and location issues for exercising and are popular in this day. A conventional indoor exerciser, such as a mountain-climbing exerciser can train muscles of hands and legs of a user but is difficult to train synchronization coordination of the hands and legs of the user. Therefore, a convention mountain-climbing exerciser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 10,272,286, entitled “Climbing Exerciser” is provided to solve the aforementioned problem. The exerciser of the '286 patent comprises a frame having two tracks and a bracket. Two sliding units are disposed on the two tracks. Each sliding unit comprises a sliding rod, and a handle and a pedal combined with the sliding rod. The sliding rod is slidably disposed in a corresponding track, and the sliding rod is provided with a connecting block. A linking mechanism comprises two lower sprockets disposed at the lower ends of the two tracks, two upper sprockets disposed at the upper end of the bracket, two fixed pulleys disposed at the lower end of the bracket, a front chain wound on the lower sides of the two lower sprockets having two ends connected with the connecting block, two side chains wound on the upper sides of the two upper sprockets having one end connected with two connecting blocks, and a steel wire wound on the lower sides of the two fixed pulleys having two ends connected with the other ends of the two side chains. A magnetic-controlled damping device is disposed on the bracket and capable of being driven by the two upper sprockets. Through the aforementioned structure, the exerciser may simulate the rock climbing motion to achieve the purpose for training hands and feet coordination. However, the length of the bracket has to be longer than that of the handle to hold the whole handle inside, so the cost for manufacturing the conventional exerciser as the '286 patent is high. In addition, noise will generate due to the increasing contact area between the handle and the bracket. Furthermore, the magnetic-controlled damping device of the convention exerciser cannot provide a good damping effect and has a high cost for manufacturing.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a mountain-climbing exerciser to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a mountain-climbing exerciser to provide an excellent damping effect and to reduce the cost for manufacturing.

The exerciser has a frame, a top cap, two handle units, two stepping boards, a wheel transmission mechanism, and a damping assembly. The frame has a frame base, two stands, two supporting rods, and a connection member. The stands are mounted on and protrude from the frame base. Each stand has an inserting channel defined in a top of the stand and an elongating hole defined through two opposite sides of the stand and communicating with the inserting channel. The supporting rods are respectively connected with the stands and are connected to the frame base. The connection member is connected with and between the two stands and the supporting rods. The top cap is attached to the tops of the stands, covers the inserting channels of the stand and has two inserting slots defined through the top cap and aligned and communicating with the inserting channels of the stands respectively. The handle units are connected respectively with the two stands of the frame, and each handle unit has an inserting rod. The inserting rod is mounted through one of the inserting slots in the top cap, is inserted moveably in the inserting channel of a corresponding one of the stands, and has multiple rollers mounted rotatably on the inserting rod and a fixing base mounted on the inserting rod at a position near a bottom end of the inserting rod. The stepping boards are connected respectively with the two handle units, and each stepping board has a connection portion extending into the elongated hole in a corresponding one of the stands and connected with the inserting rod of a corresponding one of the handle units. The wheel transmission mechanism is mounted on the frame and has a driving axle, a driving wheel, two sprockets, two driving chains, a transmission wheel, a transmission pulley, and a driving belt. The driving axle is mounted rotatably on the two stands. The driving wheel is co-axially mounted around the driving axle. The sprockets are mounted respectively on two ends of the driving axle. The driving chains are respectively mounted around and engaged with the two sprockets. The transmission wheel is mounted rotatably between the stands and located below the driving wheel. The transmission pulley is co-axially connected with the transmission wheel. The driving belt is mounted around the driving wheel and the transmission pulley. The damping assembly is mounted on the frame and has a disk axle, a disk mount, a transmission belt, a magnetic disk, and a magnetic base. The disk axle is connected rotatably with the supporting rods at a position below the transmission wheel. The disk mount is co-axially mounted around the disk axle. The transmission belt is mounted around the transmission wheel and the disk mount. The magnetic disk is mounted co-axially around the sick mount and has a periphery extending into a recess defined in the magnetic base in a non-contact manner.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mountain-climbing exerciser in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of the mountain-climbing exerciser in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is another perspective view of the mountain-climbing exerciser in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the mountain-climbing exerciser in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a wheel transmission mechanism of the mountain-climbing exerciser in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of the wheel transmission mechanism in FIG. 5 ;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged operational side view of the wheel transmission mechanism in FIG. 5 ; and

FIG. 8 is another enlarged operational side view of the wheel transmission mechanism in FIG. 5 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 8 , a mountain-climbing exerciser in accordance with the present invention comprises a frame 10, a top cap 20, two handle units 30, two stepping boards 40, a wheel transmission mechanism A, and a damping assembly B.

The frame 10 comprises a frame base 16, two stands 11, two supporting rods 14, and a connection member 15. The two stands 11 are mounted on and protrude from the frame base 16. Each stand 11 has an inserting channel 12 defined in a top of the stand 11. An elongating hole 13 is defined through two opposite sides of the stand 11 and communicates with the inserting channel 12. The supporting rods 14 are respectively connected with the stands 11 and connected to the frame base 16. The connection member 15 is connected with and between the two stands 11 and the supporting rods 14.

The top cap 20 is attached to the tops of the stands 11 and covers the inserting channels 12 of the stand 11. Two inserting slots 21 are defined through the top cap 20 and are aligned and communicate with the inserting channels 12 of the stands 11 respectively.

The handle units 30 are connected respectively with the two stands 11 of the frame 10. Each handle unit 30 comprises an inserting rod 31, a grip rod 37, a grip 38, and a fixing member 33. The inserting rod 31 is mounted through one of the inserting slots 21 in the top cap 20 and is inserted moveably in the inserting channel 12 of a corresponding one of the stands 11. The inserting rod 31 has multiple rollers 34, a fixing base 35, and an adjusting hole 32. The rollers are 34 mounted rotatably on near the bottom end of the inserting rod 31, such that the adjusting rod 31 can be moved smoothly in the inserting channel 12 in the corresponding stand 11. The fixing base 35 is mounted on the inserting rod 31 at a position near the bottom end of the inserting rod 31 and has connecting portion 36. The adjusting hole 32 is defined in the top of the inserting rod 31. The grip rod 37 is inserted adjustably into the adjusting hole 32 in the inserting rod 31. The grip 38 is attached to the top end of the grip rod 37. The fixing member 32 is inserted through the elongated hole 13 in a corresponding one of the stand 11, is inserted into the inserting rod 31, and abuts against the grip rod 37 to hold the position of the grip rod 37 in the inserting rod 31.

The stepping boards 40 are connected respectively with the two handle units 30. Each stepping board 40 has a connection portion 41 extending into the elongated hole 13 in a corresponding one of the stands 11 and connected with the inserting rod 31 of a corresponding one of the handle units 30.

The wheel transmission mechanism A is mounted on the frame 10 and comprises a driving axle 51, a driving wheel 50, two sprockets 52, two driving chains 53, two first pulleys 56, two second pulleys 58, a first transmission cable 57, a second transmission cable 59, a transmission wheel 60, a transmission pulley 61, and a driving belt 54. The driving axle 51 is mounted rotatably on the two stands 11. The driving wheel 50 is co-axially mounted around the driving axle 51. The two sprockets 52 are mounted respectively on two ends of the driving axle 51. The driving chains 53 are respectively mounted around and engaged with the two sprockets 52. Each driving chain 53 has a first end and a second end. The first end of the driving chain 53 is connected with connecting portion 36 of the fixing base 35 on one of the inserting rods 31. The first pulleys 56 are mounted rotatably on the two stands 11 of the frame 10 respectively. The second pulleys 58 are mounted rotatably on the connection member 15 of the frame 10 at positions corresponding to the first pulleys 56. The first transmission cable 57 extends around the first pulleys 56 and has two ends connected respectively with the connecting portions 36 on the fixing bases 35 on the inserting rods 31. The second transmission cable 59 extends around the second pulleys 58 and has two ends connected respectively with the second ends of the driving chains 53. Accordingly, an endless mechanism is composed of the two driving chains 53, the first transmission cable 57, and the second cable 59. The transmission wheel 60 is mounted rotatably between the stands 11 and is located below the driving wheel 50. The transmission pulley 61 is co-axially connected with the transmission wheel 60. The driving belt 54 is mounted around the driving wheel 50 and the transmission pulley 61. Accordingly, while one of the inserting rods 31 is moved downward, the other inserting rod can be moved upward simultaneously. Thus, the exerciser can simulate the motion of rock or mountain climbing to train the hands and legs of a user.

The damping assembly B is mounted on the frame 10 and comprises a disk axle 72, a disk mount 71, a transmission belt 62, a magnetic disk 70, a magnetic base. The disk axle 72 is connected rotatably with the supporting rods 14 at a position below the transmission wheel 60. The disk mount 71 is co-axially mounted around the disk axle 72. The magnetic disk 70 is mounted co-axially around the sick mount 71 and has a periphery extending into a recess 86 defined in the magnetic base 80 in a non-contact manner. Preferably, the magnetic disk 70 is made of aluminum sliver material. The magnetic base 80 has multiple magnetic blocks 83 mounted on two sides of the recess 86 in the magnetic base 80. The magnetic base 80 has a first end connected pivotally with one of the connection member 15 with a pivotal axle 81 and a second end 82, so the magnetic base 80 can be pivoted relative to the connection member 15. A spring 85 has two ends connected respectively with the second end 82 of the magnetic base 80 and a hook 151 formed on the connection member 15. The transmission belt 62 is mounted around the transmission wheel 60 and the disk mount 71.

An adjusting knob 90 is mounted on the frame 10 at a position between the two stands 11. An adjusting cable 92 has a first end connected with the adjusting knob 90 and a second end connected with a cable-connection portion 84 on the second end 82 of the magnetic base 80. A plastic sleeve 91 is mounted around a part of the adjusting cable 92 to keep the adjusting cable 92 from abutting with the other components of the exerciser. Accordingly, the angle of the magnetic base 80 relative to the connection member 15 can be adjusted by rotating the adjusting knob 90 with the transmission of the adjusting cable 92. Therefore, the magnetic induction area between the magnetic blocks 83 in the recess 86 of the magnetic base 80 and the magnetic disk 70 can be changed, such that the damping effect provide by the damping assembly B can be adjusted. A strong damping effect provided by the damping assembly B is shown in FIG. 7 , and A weak damping effect provided by the damping assembly B is shown in FIG. 8 .

Preferably, wheel transmission mechanism 50 further comprises a driving idler wheel 64 abutting against the driving belt 64 for adjusting a tension of the driving belt 54.

Preferably, the damping assembly B further comprises a transmission idler wheel 63 abutting against the transmission belt 62 for adjusting a tension of the transmission belt 62. In addition, with the inserting channels 12 in the stands 11, the inserting rods 31 of the handle units 30 can be moved relative to the stands 11. Thus, the length of the stands 11 can be shortened, so the cost for the material of the stands 11 can be reduced. With the rollers 34 on the inserting rods 31, noise generated between the operation of the handle units 30 and the stands 11 can be reduced. Furthermore, the cost and time for manufacturing the damping assembly B can also be reduced.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An exerciser comprising: a frame having a frame base; two stands mounted on and protruding from the frame base, and each stand having an inserting channel defined in a top of the stand and an elongating hole defined through two opposite sides of the stand and communicating with the inserting channel; two supporting rods respectively connected with the stands and connected to the frame base; and a connection member connected with and between the two stands and the supporting rods; a top cap attached to the tops of the stands, covering the inserting channels of the stand and having two inserting slots defined through the top cap and aligned and communicating with the inserting channels of the stands respectively; two handle units connected respectively with the two stands of the frame, and each handle unit comprising an inserting rod mounted through one of the inserting slots in the top cap, inserted moveably in the inserting channel of a corresponding one of the stands, and having multiple rollers mounted rotatably on the inserting rod and a fixing base mounted on the inserting rod at a position near a bottom end of the inserting rod; two stepping boards connected respectively with the two handle units, and each stepping board having a connection portion extending into the elongated hole in a corresponding one of the stands and connected with the inserting rod of a corresponding one of the handle units; a wheel transmission mechanism mounted on the frame and comprising a driving axle mounted rotatably on the two stands; a driving wheel co-axially mounted around the driving axle; two sprockets mounted respectively on two ends of the driving axle; two driving chains respectively mounted around and engaged with the two sprockets; a transmission wheel mounted rotatably between the stands and located below the driving wheel; a transmission pulley co-axially connected with the transmission wheel; and a driving belt mounted around the driving wheel and the transmission pulley; and a damping assembly mounted on the frame and comprising a disk axle connected rotatably with the supporting rods at a position below the transmission wheel; a disk mount co-axially mounted around the disk axle; a transmission belt mounted around the transmission wheel and the disk mount; and a magnetic disk mounted co-axially around the sick mount and having a periphery extending into a recess defined in a magnetic base in a non-contact manner.
 2. The exerciser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnetic disk is made of aluminum sliver material.
 3. The exerciser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the damping assembly further comprises an adjusting knob mounted on the frame at a position between the two stands; and an adjusting cable having a first end connected with the adjusting knob and a second end connected with the magnetic base.
 4. The exerciser as claimed in claim 3, wherein the adjusting cable is provided with a plastic sleeve mounted around a part of the adjusting cable to keep the adjusting cable from abutting with the other components of the exerciser.
 5. The exerciser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wheel transmission mechanism further comprises a driving idler wheel abutting against the driving belt for adjusting a tension of the driving belt.
 6. The exerciser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the damping assembly further comprises a transmission idler wheel abutting against the transmission belt for adjusting a tension of the transmission belt.
 7. The exerciser as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inserting rod of each handle unit has an adjusting hole defined in a top of the inserting rod; and each handle unit further has a grip rod inserted adjustably into the adjusting hole in the inserting rod of the handle unit; a grip attached to a top end of the grip rod; and a fixing member inserted through the elongated hole in a corresponding one of the stand, inserted into the inserting rod, and abutting against the grip rod of the handle unit.
 8. The exerciser as claimed in claim 1, wherein each driving chain of the wheel transmission mechanism has a first end connected with the fixing base on the inserting rod of one of the handle units and a second end; the wheel transmission mechanism further comprises two first pulleys mounted rotatably on the two stands of the frame respectively; two second pulleys mounted rotatably on the connection member of the frame at positions corresponding to the first pulleys; a first transmission cable extending around the first pulleys and having two ends connected respectively with the fixing bases on the inserting rods of the handle units; a second transmission cable extending around the second pulleys and having two ends connected respectively with the second ends of the driving chains, such that an endless mechanism is composed of the two driving chains, the first transmission cable, and the second transmission cable.
 9. The exerciser as claimed in claim 3, wherein the magnetic base has multiple magnetic blocks mounted on two sides of the recess in the magnetic base, a first end connected pivotally with the connection member with a pivotal axle, and a second end; and a spring having two ends connected respectively with the second end of the magnetic base and a hook formed on the connection member of the frame; and the magnetic base further has a fixing portion form on the second end of the magnetic and connected securely with the second end of the adjusting cable. 